Worst of All Evils
by iliketocolor
Summary: After Arthur is raped by one of his father's trusted knights, Merlin suffers the consequences. Merlin saved Arthur from the rapist but Uther believes a knight over a servant and it isn't until Arthur can step up and share the truth that things will be set right. Trigger warning- rape. Merlin-Arthur FRIENDSHIP.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So this is from a prompt by** AngryPurpleFire. **I hope you guys enjoy it. I wrote it pretty quickly because the words formed in my head as soon as I read the prompt. That and it helped me procrastinate the harder stories I should be writing. One of my other Merlin fics is my most popular so hopefully this one is good too. Let me know if it's not.**

**Trigger Warning for Rape. **

* * *

None of this was meant to happen. It wasn't part of their destiny. Kilgharrah never said anything about any of this in any of the conversations Merlin had had with the dragon. This was all wrong.

Merlin wrapped a blanket around the half-naked Prince sitting the royal chamber's floor and tried to push down the rage he was holding inside. Letting his anger and sadness burst out right now wouldn't help anyone. Instead, he knelt beside the prince and focused on breathing evenly.

"Sire, what happened?"

* * *

_**Earlier that night**_

"Do you require anything else from me this evening?" Merlin asked ever so graciously.

"No Merlin, take you sarcasm and leave for the night." Arthur replied, not even looking up from his papers.

Merlin gave his trademark grin and left the prince's chambers. He had some magic to study before getting to bed himself.

Arthur sighed as soon as he heard his door shut. He was far more stressed than he'd like to be and the fact that his father kept talking to him of marriage wasn't helping much.

After a few more minutes of charting out next week's hunt, Arthur decided to turn in for the night. He changed into his night clothes and blew out the candles before falling into a dreamless sleep.

He was jolted awake hours later. He could only estimate it was around four in the morning. The moonlight was still falling through the window but just barely as it would be trading with the sun in a couple more hours. He felt a sharp point at his neck and a heavy weight on top of him.

"Sorry to wake you Sire," said a deep but quiet voice.

"Get o-" Arthur began. A hand quickly covered his mouth.

"No, now is not the time to speak my prince. Now is the time to obey."

As Arthur's eyes adjusted he wished to be inside a very vivid nightmare. Arawn, the eldest knight in Camelot, was naked and sitting on top of Arthur with a dagger at his neck.

"Make any noise and I will slit your wrists; tell your father I found you like this as I did the nightly rounds. His poor son, so overwhelmed with a prince's duties." Arawn smirked and moved his hand from Arthur's mouth and went to remove the prince's trousers.

Arthur's mind was racing. He had to think of a way out of this. His nearest weapon was across the room. He knew he was in the losing position. He'd been training in combat long enough to know when there was no escape. He felt the cool of the night surround his lower half as his groin was exposed for the knight. He closed his eyes. He knew what was coming but he would not cry.

Arawn's hand returned to Arthur's mouth as he entered the prince with no preparation. Arthur wanted to scream. He could feel nothing but pain emanating from every nerve in his body as Arawn continued to thrust with no sympathy at how much he was breaking the future king.

The thirty minutes that Arawn spent inside of Arthur seemed like an eternity. A slow creek from the door proved to be Arthur's salvation.

"Oh my-" Merlin exclaimed as he entered the room. He had a single candle to light his way as he was coming to prepare Arthur's bath and grab the armor he forgot to take with him the night before.

"Merlin! Help-" Arthur said as soon as he heard the servant's voice.

Those were the only sounds Merlin needed to hear. They were muffled but Merlin heard. He didn't need to see the dagger or fact that Arawn was naked. He just knew there was someone on top of Arthur and Arthur asked for help.

Arawn swiftly moved the dagger and grabbed Arthur's right wrist. He had made a small vertical cut when he was suddenly hit in the head with a shield that had been thrown across the room.

With a thud, Arawn toppled over and fell onto the floor. Arthur quickly sat up. He could feel the pain radiating through his entire body but he ignored it as the compulsion to get out of his own bed was too strong. He moved off the bed on the opposite side of where Arawn fell. He didn't even care how Merlin was able to throw a shield with that much force across the room. He just needed to be away from what just happened.

Merlin quickly lit the other candles in the room and made the connection of what had happened. Both Arawn and Arthur were naked from the waist down, but Arthur was bleeding from places no man should bleed.

* * *

"My father cannot know about this Merlin." Arthur said as he finished telling Merlin what had transpired that morning.

"What do we do about Arawn?" Merlin asked, not questioning Arthur's desires to keep this quiet.

"I don't know. Just cover him up and put him in the hall. We'll say he fell asleep on the job or something." Arthur couldn't think clearly. He was exhausted and fighting the urge to cry as well as kill Arawn.

"Okay. Let's start a bath for you." Merlin said helping the prince off the floor.

Arthur curled up on a chair next to the tub as Merlin filled it with water.

"Merlin, that's going to be freezing," Arthur said as he finally began to think clearly. The tub was almost full and Merlin hadn't boiled any of the water.

"I know you saw what happened with the shield Arthur. Our lives would make much more sense if I stopped hiding from you." Merlin said as he held his hands towards the water and heated it instantly.

"You have magic." Arthur said quietly, almost as if it were a disappointment.

"Since birth, yes… My destiny is to use my magic to protect you." Merlin answered, watching the prince closely for a reaction.

Arthur didn't say anything further as he got into the hot water. It was probably too hot but Arthur didn't care. There would never be water hot enough to fix what had just happened to him.

After several minutes of quiet Arthur spoke, seemingly out of nowhere. "All my life I've been told that men with magic are the worst of all evils. It was forced into my head that no one could be as bad as a sorcerer… But here I am, saved by a sorcerer and broken by a mere man- a trusted knight who would sooner burn a child with magic than protect the king's son."

Merlin let Arthur process his thoughts. He couldn't even imagine the world that was collapsing in front of Arthur.

"Thank you Merlin. Your secret is safe." Arthur finally looked at the servant. Merlin couldn't help but notice that his eyes were dull but glistening with tears that threatened to fall.

"Of course Sire." Merlin gave a weak smile. "Would you like me to stay with you for now?"

Arthur looked away as his tears fell silently. "Please."


	2. Chapter 2

Neither Merlin nor Arthur noticed when Arawn slipped from the room. Merlin went to the wardrobe to get clothes for the prince and noticed the spot where Arawn had fallen was now empty.

"Sire, Arawn is gone," Merlin said returning to prince.

"You took care of him rather quickly." Arthur's voice was emotionless as he stood out of the bath and dried himself off.

"No, he must have woken up. He's left."

Arthur was quiet for a moment. The thought of Arawn being out there was disturbing enough, but to have him just walk out of Arthur's chambers was difficult for Arthur to swallow.

"Less for you to deal with I suppose." Arthur finally answered.

Both men were quiet as Merlin helped Arthur dress. Merlin silently cursed himself for not bringing Arthur's breakfast up with him. The last thing he wanted to do now was leave the prince alone.

"Arthur, would you like me to get you your breakfast?" Merlin asked cautiously.

"I'm honestly not hungry Merlin… I think I'm needed for council, or training, or something. I don't have time for this anyway."

"You know, I can get Gaius, say you feel under the weather, deathly ill, that kind of thing. No need to see anyone today." Merlin was worried about Arthur having to face Arawn during council, training, or even just around the castle. Merlin knew Arthur was strong enough to handle anything but he also knew Arthur would be in anguish every time he saw the other man.

"No Merlin. Thank you, but I'll handle this like the man that I am. Just give me a moment alone and I'll collect myself."

Merlin was hesitant but agreed. "Yes. You're right. I'll be right outside the door."

"Thank you Merlin. I'll be just a moment."

Merlin nodded and stepped out of the prince's chambers. He shut the door behind him and stood making sure no one came within ten feet of the room. He ignored the crying he could hear from behind the door. He wished he could go in and comfort the prince but he also knew it was more beneficial to pretend he had heard nothing.

After ten minutes the door opened behind him and Arthur came out looking as if he still had all the pieces to himself put together. No one would have guessed he was a changed, slightly broken man.

"Well… please clean my room when you get the chance. Let no one in until you do." Arthur said as if it were the same order he'd given a hundred times before.

"Of course Sire."

Arthur's eyes met Merlin's briefly. The conversation that occurred between their eyes spoke of compassion, relief, and gratitude. However, Merlin didn't miss the brief hint of fear and despair from Arthur as the two parted ways. Arthur went towards the armory and Merlin stepped back into the prince's chambers.

He looked over the scene in front of him and sighed, shoving back his own thoughts and memories. Blood stained the sheets of the bed and the places on the floor where Arthur had been seated. The tub of bath water was still filled with pinkish water, tinted from the blood. The shield was still at its fallen place across the room and had spots of blood from colliding with Arawn's head. If it weren't for all the blood, the room would look like a relatively normal morning mess.

Merlin worked first on cleaning the floor. It was after he had finished disposing of the bath water that Merlin was interrupted.

"Merlin. Your presence is required in front of the king," Sir Cador said as soon as he saw the servant.

Merlin quickly exited to room before Cador could come too far into the room and see the signs of what had transpired.

The two set off towards the council room quickly.

"Sir, do you know what I'm being summoned for?" Half of Merlin hoped that Arthur had decided to tell the king after all. Merlin didn't completely agree with Arthur's decision to keep what Arawn did a secret, but he understood why.

"I think it's best we don't speak." Cador said sternly.

As soon as they entered the council room a few minutes later, the doors were shut behind them. Arthur was nowhere to be seen. Uther sat with Arawn at one side and the council at the other.

There was silence as only Uther and Arawn made eye contact with the young man.

"Merlin. You are under arrest for both the possession of magic and for using said magic to attack a knight of Camelot." Uther said with such fierceness in his voice that would have made a weaker man than Merlin crumble.

Merlin was speechless. Out of all the possible situations, he had no idea this would be one of them. He thought Arawn would lay low for a while, not wanting to raise suspicions.

"You will be burnt at the stake tomorrow at dawn." Uther said heartlessly.

As Cador and another knight approached Merlin, his worry grew tenfold. "Please, I have no idea what you're talking about. I've been with Arthur all morning!"

Uther stood up quickly and stared at Merlin in anger. "My most trusted knight was found passed out with a head injury, dragged to a corner of my castle. The other knights found him with your neckerchief in his hand and blood dripping from his head. When he awoke he told that you had attacked him with your magic and tried to kill him to get past him on patrol to steal from our vaults. And indeed a fair amount of gold was missing from the vaults. And you're going to tell me you have nothing to do with this! You stupid, useless servant… Men, take him to a cell and whip him until he learns his place."

Merlin hadn't even noticed that he had taken off his over shirt and neckerchief to draw the bath for Arthur and that her neckerchief was missing.

"Speak to Arthur! Arawn is lying!" Merlin shouted as the knights dragged him off.

Uther huffed and paced. "Magic… in my own castle… Thank you Arawn."


	3. Chapter 3

"Father!" Arthur wanted to burst into tears of rage as he entered the throne room where his father was currently looking over maps and documents with a goblet of wine. Arthur had just gone through his whole morning and afternoon on edge from fear of seeing Arawn again. His entire body was still in immense pain from the morning attack, and he had just heard talk of Merlin being arrested and thrown in the dungeons.

"Arthur, I suspect you've heard of our betrayal." Uther set down his wine and looked up at his son. "Merlin ha-"

"MERLIN has done nothing wrong. The betrayal comes from Arawn. Merlin saved my life this morning."

"My son, Merlin is a servant. Arawn is a loyal knight of Camelot who has never done anything to warrant suspicions. I know this must come as a shock to you to have Merlin betray us all like this, but you must calm yourself."

Arthur took a deep breath and closed his eyes, still fuming with rage. "Arawn attacked me this morning. Merlin hit him over the head with a metal pitcher and knocked him out. I don't know where this talk of magic even came from." Arthur knew he was okay with Merlin's magic but Uther would never agree.

"Why would Arawn attack you? Your frail attempt to save your servant makes no sense. You are blinded to the deceit because you got too close to a useless servant. You must remember your place and his."

Arthur's mind was battling. Telling his father how Arawn truly attacked him was out of the question. But letting Arawn take another piece of Arthur's life away was far worse.

"You must trust me father." Arthur was almost desperate. "Merlin is innocent. This isn't Merlin's word against Arawn. It's mine. Your only son's word against Arawn's."

Uther sighed. He wanted to believe Arthur. But the possibility of Merlin manipulating Arthur with magic was far too great. "Arthur. What's done is done. Merlin is set to death at dawn. I suggest you retire to your chambers for some time to deal with the loss."

Arthur started laughing and he could feel the tears he had tried to keep back begin to fall. He seemed almost hysterical.

"My chambers? I can't go to my chambers. That's where Arawn raped me this morning."

"Hold your tongue Arthur." Uther's eyes grew wide. He swiftly got up and approached his son.

"The proof would still be in my chambers. I hear you arrested Merlin before he could finish cleaning."

Uther watched his son for a moment. The pain in Arthur's voice was heartbreaking and against everything Uther wanted to believe, he knew in his heart Arthur was telling the truth.

"You're being truthful?"

"Why would I lie about something like this. It's sickening to think that I would even make something like that up." Arthur dried his tears on his sleeve and sat defeated into a chair at the table.

"I am so very sorry." Uther knelt down and hugged his son tighter than he had in years.

Arthur's voice cracked as he hugged his father back, not used to physical affection from the man. "Just please let Merlin go."

Uther let go and stood up. "Of course. I can send for him-"

"No, I want to go get him." Arthur stood and rolled his shoulders back, preparing to leave the room.

"I will send Leon with you. He should be right outside the door." Uther quickly went to the door and called for Leon to enter.

"Yes my Lord?" Leon asked as he shut the door behind him.

"Merlin has been found innocent. Take Arthur to get Merlin and bring them both back here immediately. Make sure Arawn knows nothing of this."

Leon looked confused but did not question his king. "As you wish."

Arthur and Leon made it to the dungeons only to hear the cries of Merlin as he was being whipped and beaten. Merlin was chained with his chest to the wall, exposing his bare back to be whipped.

"Elland! Stop!" Leon shouted as they approached the dungeon guard whipping Merlin.

"Sir Leon, Prince Arthur…" Elland seemed shocked to see them in the depths of the dungeon and stopped injuring Merlin.

"King Uther has declared Merlin's innocence. We are to take him to the king," Leon explained.

Elland nodded and unhooked Merlin's chains. Merlin crumpled to the ground. In just a few hours the guards were able to beat Merlin disastrously. Blood was dripping from nearly 40 lashes across his back. His wrists were raw and bloody from the chains and his front torso was black and purple from an earlier beating.

"Merlin!" Arthur ran to his friend's side and helped him sit up. "Elland get him some water. Damn, how could you do this much damage to him."

"I'm sorry sire. It was my job." Elland bowed his head and exited the cell to get some water for the innocent servant.

"Don't worry Arthur. 's not his fault… he was actually goin' pretty easy on me." Merlin's voice was fairly weak as if he could pass out at any moment. "Elland's a nice guy. I helped his mother out a few months back."

Arthur couldn't help but laugh. It was so very like Merlin to make friends with every last person in the castle, even down to the dungeon guard.

Elland returned with a cup of water and Arthur helped Merlin drink. "I'm sorry I wasn't there this morning to stop all this." Arthur said quietly.

"I'm sorry I didn't finish cleaning your room." Merlin gave a weak smile.

"Can you manage to walk Merlin?" Leon asked stepping towards the men.

"Yes… I think. Just give me a moment… and uh… a minute alone… please." Merlin knew a spell that could help ease his pain. It wouldn't fix his wounds but it would make it possible to walk out of the dungeon without keeling over in pain every step of the way.

Leon nodded and stepped out of the cell with Elland. Arthur began to adjust so he could leave as well.

"No need for you to leave Arthur." Merlin said quietly. His eyes then glistened gold momentarily as he whispered his spell.

"Your eyes look amazing when they do that," Arthur admitted as he watched Merlin slowly begin to stand up.

Merlin smiled. "Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

The walk back to the throne room was slow but steady. Leon saw Sir Vidor on the way back and instructed him to get Gaius and bring him to the throne room, making sure to tell no one that he had seen the three. The knight did as he was told and moved quickly.

Finally the trio was in front of King Uther. Leon closed the doors behind them and Arthur helped Merlin sit down.

"Merlin. I don't do this often, but given the circumstances, I feel I must apologize. You are a loyal member of this castle and have only ever looked out for Arthur. You will be taken care of for as long as you stay within Camelot." Uther said sincerely.

"Thank you Sire." Merlin said weakly. The walk had taken a lot out of him. It was nearing late evening and Merlin had had a far more stressful day than he'd ever thought possible.

Uther nodded before turning his attention to Leon. "Take Sirs Osric, Edric, and Robert with you to go and arrest Arawn. Do not tell him he is under arrest or there may be a battle we do not need. Just bring him here."

Leon nodded and left the room, only to be replaced by Sir Vidor and Gaius.

"Gaius?" Uther asked. He didn't remember sending for the man and questioned why he should be here.

"Father, Leon sent for Gaius while we were on our way here. Merlin is badly injured," Arthur explained.

"Ah. Yes. Well, let the man attend to Merlin. I must speak with you. Vidor, please round up all the knights who are available and bring them here. Leon, Osric, Edric, Robert and Arawn are already on their way. Get the rest."

"Yes my king. Right away."

"Father, I don't think it's best to tell them what happened…" Arthur was slightly panicking inside. He wasn't even okay with his father knowing what happened, let alone every knight that was currently in the castle.

"They won't. They will know that he has betrayed the crown and his punishment will be torture until death."

Arthur nodded and let his gaze drift to the floor. He was tired. He wasn't sure he had ever had a longer day. He went back to Merlin and Gaius. Merlin's shirt was off and Gaius was applying medicines to Merlin's wounds.

"He's going to be okay. I've given him something for the pain but he will need to take it easy for a while to make sure the wounds don't reopen," Gaius told the prince.

"Thank you Gaius… Um. I was hoping that I could also receive something for pain." Arthur said quietly.

Gaius gave the prince a quizzical look but Merlin piped up quickly.

"Just don't ask questions right now Gaius. This will need to be discussed later. Arthur is in pain, believe me."

Gaius said nothing as he handed Arthur a vial of pain medicine. He had a million questions but given the obvious secrecy of everything that was currently happening, Gaius knew better than to ask.

The four men were quiet until the knights arrived. Some of the knights that Vidor was sent to get started to trickle in one by one. Finally Leon arrived with Arawn. Arawn seemed relaxed and almost triumphant until he saw Merlin sitting beside Arthur. At that moment, the knight's face fell but he didn't make a scene.

Finally it seemed that everyone had arrived. Vidor had even gathered council members and they took their places around the room.

"Arawn, please step forward," Uther said calmly.

Arawn did as he was told but Leon was watchful. He had no idea what was happening but this was obviously bigger than anything he'd imagined.

"Arawn, you are guilty of the most heinous betrayal to the crown. You are hereby stripped of all your titles and sentenced to death by torture." Uther stared down his son's rapists and wished he could kill the man several times over.

"The lies you have told today have been uncovered and Merlin's innocence has been restored. I never thought you could betray me this badly. Have you anything to say for yourself?"

Arthur stood vigilant behind his father but could not look Arawn in the eye. He hated even being in the same room as the man. He wished he could just go to sleep for the next five years but that wasn't even an option given that he didn't exactly want to enter his chambers again.

Arawn was silent as he looked around at the knights and the various council members. "I can only say that I do not regret being the one to take Arthur. Better than any whore I could have paid for." Arawn finally smirked and looked at Uther.

Arthur fought back the tears in his eyes and suddenly felt that Merlin was squeezing his shoulder in support. Arthur stayed undeterred, as if what Arawn said revealed nothing to all who were in the room.

"Take him to the dungeons. And Leon-" Uther said motioning for Leon to come closer. "Tell them the first thing to do is castrate him," he whispered.

Leon nodded and then gave a solemn nod to Arthur as well before going with five other knights to take Arawn to the dungeons.

"The things that have occurred this evening are not to be mentioned to anyone outside these walls. You are all the knights of Camelot and your loyalty is what this kingdom stands on. This will not be spoken of again. You are all free to go."

"Long live the king," the knights shouted in unison. "Long live the prince."

"Come on Arthur, I will finish cleaning your room and we can end this wretched day." Merlin said quietly as the knights began to disperse.

"Thank you Merlin."

* * *

Merlin and Arthur were the last to leave. Uther wanted to send some knights with them for safety's sake but Arthur declined. Merlin was the only protection he needed.

They got back to Arthur's chambers and Merlin lit the candles around the room. "The only thing I didn't get to was cleaning your shield and replacing your bed sheets."

Merlin winced in slight pain as he began to undress the bed. Arthur noticed but didn't know what to say. He wanted to be able to send Merlin away to recover from his injuries, but he knew he couldn't be in this room alone.

Once Merlin had gotten new sheets for the bed from the trunk in the corner of the room, Arthur helped him make the bed. He wasn't much help, given the fact he had never had to make a bed in his entire life, but Merlin appreciated the gesture.

Arthur changed into his evening clothes himself but hesitated to climb into bed. He was exhausted but his body seemed to be refusing to move.

"Perhaps you should sleep on the opposite side of the bed tonight," Merlin suggested after a moment of seeing Arthur's internal struggle.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Arthur agreed. He walked to the other side and climbed into bed.

"Do you need anything else tonight?" Merlin asked. He too was tired but he would fight his exhaustion to help Arthur.

Arthur was quiet. He had been contemplating a thought since he first saw the outside of his door. "Um. Could you possibly just sleep here this evening?"

"Of course, Arthur." Merlin went back to the trunk and pulled out another blanket for himself before sitting on the floor.

"Don't be a fool. Sleep on the other half of the bed. Your injuries are far too great to have you sleeping on the floor tonight."

"If you're sure… Thank you." Merlin was hesitant but eventually put out the candles and got onto the other side of the bed.

Both men were quiet for several minutes as they lay in the dark. It was certainly awkward for them to be this close but it was also slightly comforting.

"Merlin… Can I ask you something?" Arthur said, staring at his ceiling.

"Of course." Merlin answered, staring at the same ceiling.

"You told Gaius to believe you that I was in pain. Almost like you knew how much pain I was in… How do you know?"

Merlin wasn't sure how to tell Arthur something he'd forgotten for so long, but after several moments he finally answered.

"I was a child. A band of thieves raided our village, taking our small amounts of money and food. Most of the men found women to rape, only a couple took children. I just happened to be one of them. I had nearly forgotten about it until today. It was so long ago."

Arthur was unsure of how to reply. He couldn't imagine a small Merlin being hurt so badly with no best friend to help him through. "I'm sorry Merlin."

"Like I said, it was long ago. I'm just sorry you have to know that kind of pain too."

Both men were quiet again. Nothing needed to be said anymore. Not until they were about to drift off into their own restless dreams.

"Merlin… You're a lousy servant… but a good friend. Thank you… again."

* * *

**A/N: The End. Hope it was okay. I felt some of the comments between Merlin and Arthur turned out to be a bit more gay than what I meant them to be, but whatever. They're just bestest friends. At least in this story. I definitely wasn't expecting to end it this way but this is where it went. Let me know if it was sucky. If felt slightly rushed to me. Anyway, thanks for reading.**

**-Rachel-**


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